Question:
Can SS Dato’ Seri Mufti give some advice and tips to improve one’s memory?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Forgetting is in the nature of humans. A poet once said:
وما سُمي الإنسان إلا لنسيه ولا القلب إلا أنه يتقلب
It is not named as human (insan) except for his forgetfulness (nisyan);
And it is not named as a heart (qalb) except for its attribute of always changing.
Imam Syafi’e once complained to his teacher, Waki’ regarding his memory problems, and this incident is recorded in his poem:
شكوت إلى وكيع سوء حفظي فأرشدني إلى ترك المعاصي
وقــال إن علم الله نــورٌ ونور الله لا يعطى لعاصي
I complained to Waki’ regarding my memory problems;
Then he asked me to leave sins;
He also said, indeed knowledge from Allah is light;
And Allah’s light is not for sinners.
It is understood from Waki’s advise that sins are the main cause of one’s weakening memory and preventing one from comprehending it.
Allah SWT also advised humans to remember Him with zikr of His names when we forget something through His words in the Quran:
وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ إِذَا نَسِيتَ
And remember your Lord when you forget
Surah al-Kahf (24)
Memorization in Study
Scholars emphasized the importance of memorization in studying at the same time understanding and comprehending it. Muhammad bin Yasir once said:
إذا لم تكن حافظا واعيا - فجمعك للكتب لا ينفع
“If you don’t memorize knowledge, then all the books that you collect is useless.” (Refer Al-Jami’ fi Bayan al-Ilm wa Fadhlihi by Imam Ibn Abd al-Barr, 1/139)
Yunus bin Habib once heard someone saying:
وبئس مستودع العلم قراطيس
“The worse person who leaves knowledge are those who leave it on paper (without memorizing it)”
Due to this, scholars said that one’s knowledge is one’s memorization and memorizing is only possible through hard work, revision and intensive discussions. Discussions is like the soul for knowledge and without revision, memorization is impossible. True are the words of a scholar:
وَلَيْسَ عِلْمًا مَا وَعَى الْقِمَطْرُ مَا الْعِلْمُ إِلا مَا وَعَاهُ الصَّدْرُ
“Knowledge is not what is written in books, but what is in one’s hearts and memory.” (Refer Al-Hassu ‘ala Tolab al-‘Ilm wa al-Ijtihad fi Jam’ihi, pg. 1/67)
It is narrated that Abd al-Razzaq said: Every knowledge that is not brought in by its owner inside the bathroom (which means not memorized), then it is not considered as knowledge. (Refer al-Dalil ila al-Mutun al-‘Ilmiyyah by Abd al-Aziz ibn Qasim, 1/53)
Conclusion
Ibn Abbas R.Anhuma said:
الْعِلْمُ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ أَنْ يُحْصَى فَخُذُوا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ أَحْسَنَهُ
Knowledge is boundless, then take the best of each.
The minds of humans are limited and the capacity is finite. Forgetfulness is a weakness that is synonymous for humans. Allah SWT state:
وَخُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ ضَعِيفً
“And mankind was created weak.”
Surah al-Nisaa’ (28)
Hence, students should be wise in filtering information and choose beneficial knowledge for the benefit of the ummah.
We would like to take this opportunity to advise students to learn how to improve one’s memory and techniques to memorize things easily so they can practise it while studying.
Wallahua’lam.